2 Music


Armatrading ready to showcase her talent


Friday, January 23, 2015 Follow us on Twitter @Argus_The Guide


Meet The Band Menace Beach


CARDIFF SHOW: Joan Armatrading


THE incomparable Joan Ar- matrading brings her superb repertoire of songs to St Da- vids Hall, Cardiff on March 3. This is, rather unbelievably,


her first ever solo world tour. And if there was ever any doubt that Armatrading is more, much more, than those first great songs that brought her to the world’s attention – Love And Affection, Me My- self I, Drop The Pilot – these shows incalculably support the claim. For almost two hours Joan holds the stage, trawling through her career’s song- book, utilising various guitars (and playing techniques) and a piano. She shares some of the high- lights of the last four decades


and she gives us a glimpse of her world. Her talent is on full display.


The landmark songs, the rich, mellifluous voice, the superb musicianship. Her last few albums have


seen her playing most of the instruments herself and here, alone on the stage, it is easy to see why she is also acclaimed as an instrumentalist. Not for nothing was she at


the top of the Billboard blues chart when Into The Blues came out. Catch it if you can is a much touted phrase but here it nev- er holds truer. This really is a show to be caught at any cost. Call the box office on 029 2087 8500 for ticket details.


A tribute experience


ELO Experience will recreate the greatest hits of the Elec- tric Light Orchestra at the Borough Theatre on Wednes- day 4 February 7.30pm. Back in the 70’s and 80’s Jeff


Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra played to packed stadiums throughout the world. Now audiences can enjoy their greatest hits repro- duced by this exciting tribute band, including Sweet Talking Woman, Telephone Line, Con- fusion, Don’t Bring Me Down and – perhaps their most fa- mous – Mr Blue Sky. Tickets which cost £18 are


available from the Box Office 01873 850805 or alternatively book online at boroughthea treabergavenny.co.uk.


BACK TO THE 70s: ELO Experience


Contact Us


EDITOR: Nicole Garnon 01633 777203 nicole.garnon@gwent-wales.co.uk


EDITORIAL AND DESIGN: Andy Howells andrew.howells@gwent-wales.co.uk


ADVERTISING: Andrea Hall 01633 777285 andrea.hall@gwent-wales.co.uk


ONLINE: www.southwalesaargus.co.uk


SHOW: Menace Beach


BACK in the good old of days of 1990, Color Dream Games re- leased Menace Beach for the then-popular NES games console from Nintendo. Imagine skate- boarding through a side-scrolling 8-bit world filled with balloons, clowns and disgruntled dockwork- ers in search of your cute pix- elated girlfriend Bunny. It’s from this slightly surreal, esoteric world that this Leeds indie rock revolving cast of local luminaries, headed by Ryan Needham and Liza Vio- let, draw their name. It’s reference acts as the perfect backdrop to their 90s American underground and pre-Brit Pop indie; melody heavy, supercharged pop that’s always surprising. After the success of their EP Lowtalker in early 2014, Brit- ish indie label favourites Mem- phis Industries snapped Menace Beach up with the band’s debut album in mind. It comes in the shape of Ratworld, a twelve- song assault, a journey through a psyche tinged wonderland, documenting moving away and waving goodbye to the fractured rubble of an unhappy lifestyle. On the title, Ryan says “We’ve created our own grubby little Ratworld to inhabit. Everything is better when it’s a bit grubby and broken.” It’s that dreamy sensation of taking comfort in chaos, looking around at the perfect mess you’ve created and feeling deeply content as it’s yours and no one else’s. Although Ryan and Liza are


the creative core from which the wellspring of inspiration pours


AndyHowells chats to Ryan from Menace Beach ahead of the band’s Bristol date nextweek


from, they’re now joined by Matt Spalding (bass), Nestor Mat- thews (drums) and Matthew “MJ” Johnson (guitar). As everyone’s favourite Leeds-based producer, MJ sits behind the desk and has been moulding the sound in his Suburban Home studios since the start. It’s his keen ear and ability to thread and balance an artist’s sonic themes that is the foundation stone upon which these songs can explode and punch you in the gut. And they do. Over and over again. Opener Come On Give


Up recalls moments of Pave- ment’s Terror Twilight but then slams home a bittersweet Wavves-esque boy/girl melody in the soaring chorus. Bratty Lowtalkin lurches forward, sweat-drenched and punch- drunk against a squealing driv- ing darkness whilst Tastes Like Medicine is a giddy head-swirl- ing fuzz pop rush. Blue Eye of- fers a different perspective and a glimpse at what the future may hold. It drifts along in a sea of feedback bliss, recalling both My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain.


Andy Howells recently put


questions to Ryan from the band. How Did you come together?


Me and Liza have known each


other for ages but the band kind of haphazardly came together af- ter we both ran off from the town we were living in and moved up to Leeds. We bumped into some old friends who were up for hanging out, eating pizza and playing music.


Where are you from? We all live in Leeds. Liza is


from somewhere on the South Coast and me and Matt S are from the Midlands originally.


How would you describe your music style? Pretty loud guitar-y stuff. I like melody and noise pretty equally and my favourite records are all a bit rough and energetic and chaotic and kind of honest- sounding, so hopefully it’s like that.


What’s been your best live experience? I’m a big fan of festivals and


Beacons last year was a really good one. We played at Bris- tol Fleece last December with Pulled Apart By Horses and that was pretty wild. I found a pair of lost mosh-pit-casualty shoes af- ter Horses played and they’re a real good fit. There’s also great coffee to be had next door.


You have a new single and album coming soon; can you tell us more about that? Tastes Like Medicine is the


single that’s out now, we’ve just finished a video for it which has got some ghoulish animation go- ing on. Our album is called Rat- world and is out on Jan 19th. It’s kind of a noisy document of feeling gross, running away from stuff, moving cities and starting again, that kind of thing. It’s actu- ally way more upbeat than that sounds!


What can people expect from your forthcoming Bristol gig? I think Bristol is a few dates in


and we should have learned all the songs by then so we’ll be re- laxed but maybe also fired up on caffeine from that awesome cof- fee shop that’s also a bike shop. I dunno, probably lots of feed- back, the good kind, and some fabulous cardigans.


Where can people hear your music? You should go to a record shop, you’re really spoilt for them in Bristol! I think there’s an album stream online or if you just search Menace Beach Ratworld I’m sure it’ll pop up.


Catch Menace Beach at The Louisiana, Bristol on January 28.


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